Eugenie Bouchard is nobody's fool and many people's favourite. Throughout the 2014 Australian Open she has handled herself with composure beyond her years and she does not expect nerves or the growing support among local fans to hamper her semi-final performance against the fourth seed, Li Na, who is 12 years her senior.

"I have a koala, a kangaroo, a kookaburra and a wombat," she said of the animals she has collected or had steered her way by local fans who have clearly taken to her relaxed demeanour and aggressive tennis.

One wondered, however, if she was prepared for their reaction to her impressive roll through this tournament, which reached a high on Tuesday when the 14th seed, Ana Ivanovic, who has been in two Grand Slam finals and knocked out Serena Williams in the previous round, could not handle her power or movement.

"I don't know," Bouchard said. "It's something I've been doing since I was five years old, working my whole life for and sacrificing a lot of things for. So it's not exactly a surprise. I always expect myself to do well.

"I'm just happy to have gone through this step but I'm not done. I have a match on Thursday. I'm just looking forward to that. She's a great champion. She's won a slam as well. It's going to be really tough.

"I played her once in Montreal two years ago. We had a close match. But it was one of my first bigger matches. It will be interesting to play her. I know she's very solid, very good from the back. It's going to be hard but I'm looking forward to it."

Bouchard shares a coach, the experienced American Nick Saviano, with Britain's Laura Robson, who has been friends with her for several years.

Both play a brand of muscular tennis that Saviano considers the most effective in the modern game.

"I try to be aggressive," she says. "Obviously it's good to mix it up but I try to take the ball early. It takes away time from the opponent, [who] has less time to guess where I'm going or try to read where I'm going. That's an advantage I try to use on the court."

Whatever happens, she will not be uncontrollably nervous. "The matches I had last year on the big courts, like [Maria] Sharapova at the French Open, Ivanovic at Wimbledon, just being on those big stages gave me a lot of experience.

"Now walking out on centre court in Australia, I feel like I've been here before. I've been able to perform on big stages as well. It gives me that extra confidence."

She is not blind to the growing support for her, including the loud Genie army. "They're from here. They've been supporting me from my first match. I was out on Court 15 in the first round and they were there with their T-shirts and everything.

"They've been a really good support team. I'm looking forward to my next match. They're great. They come up with these songs. I got a wombat today. Maybe at the end of the tournament we'll meet up but for now it's going fine."

Bouchard has an extraordinarily cool demeanour. "I think I'm pretty similar on and off the court. I'm a really focused person, really driven. So off the court I'm kind of almost impatient in a way. I like to get things done.

"On the court I'm the same way. In the point I really just want to play my game, be aggressive, take it to my opponent and not just wait around and wait for opportunities. I think it's a good thing to take my chances when I'm on the court."